NBS workers cleared of confinement charges after prosecution no-shows at hearing

The charges of unlawful confinement against three employees of the New Building Society (NBS) were dismissed by a city magistrate yesterday after the special prosecutor failed to appear in court.

NBS Director Anil Kishun along with employees Anil Beharry and Deka Tularam had pleaded not guilty to eight counts of unlawful confinement, which was alleged to have occurred at its main branch.

It was alleged that on January 23rd, at NBS’ head office on Avenue of the Republic, they wrongfully confined Shawn Kalicharan, Alex Greene, Goodish Singh, Patrick Higgins, Martin Browne, Gina Arjoon, Ganesh Hira and Joseph Allen “from proceeding beyond certain circumscribing limits, that is to say, out of the building”.

When the matter was called yesterday in the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court Six, the special prosecutor, attorney Sanjeev Datadin, failed to appear and Magistrate Dylon Bess subsequently dismissed the charges.

The law firm Hughes, Fields and Stoby, which represented the accused, subsequently said in a statement that the special prosecutor and assistant counsel failed to attend court or provide the court with any explanation for their absence.

“The dismissal came after the court waited in excess of ninety minutes for counsel to appear and after causing several inquiries to be made about whether the Prosecutor had informed the Clerk of Court or any other court official about their absence. The inquiries revealed that no such notification had been sent,” it said.

“Counsel for the defendants observed that this was not the first occasion on which the Special Prosecutor had been absent,” the statement added.

As previously reported by this newspaper, on January 24th, a judgment was issued by the High Court for NBS to award its former Chief Executive Officer Maurice Arjoon for $59 million in pension after he was wrongfully dismissed by the bank.

The man’s attorneys descended on the financial institution to execute the levy to recoup the sums to which he is entitled.

A marshal and policeman, who had turned up to execute the levy, succeeded only in removing one vehicle from the compound, before being hindered by the bank which immediately shut its doors and gate.

As a result, customers transacting business at the time were locked in, and denied exit, while customers wanting to get in, were denied entry.

Among the persons in the bank at the time, were the police and marshal who turned up to execute the levy, along with one of Arjoon’s three attorneys.

By the end of the six-hour standoff, the bank wrote Arjoon a cheque for $59,033,281 in pension it owed.

The bank in a statement, however, rebuffed claims of ever holding anyone against their will, stating that no order was produced to effect the levy. NBS’ claim is that its facility was stormed by unidentified individuals and employees thought a robbery was about to occur.